


Arreat Descent

by Ovipositivity



Category: Diablo (Video Game), Diablo III, Heroes of the Storm (Video Game)
Genre: Consensual Sex, Demon Sex, Demons, Driders, Egg Laying, Eggpreg, F/F, Forbidden Love, Impregnation, Oviposition, ovipositor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:06:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22033765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ovipositivity/pseuds/Ovipositivity
Summary: I've been digging around through my old stories, and thinking... damn, some of these are alright!In this one, Johanna the Crusader embarks on a perilous solo mission to Arreat Crater, in search of something more precious than gold.
Relationships: Cydaea (Diablo)/Johanna (Diablo III)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 67





	Arreat Descent

“For Zakarum!”   
  
Johanna’s flail whirred through the air with a wail like a banshee. The jagged spikes and ridges were designed to channel the rushing air, and their terrifying keening was as much a weapon as the heavy metal head itself. Fallen and lesser demons fled before her as Johanna forced herself forward. Blood spattered the ground of the Arreat Crater, foul ichor that hissed and sizzled. A spray splashed across Johanna’s helmet, spattering her nose and eyes, and she spat in frustration. Her imperishable flesh was hardened by the rites of the Crusader, but the stuff still stank like a week-old corpse.

Calling upon the judgment of Akarat, Johanna let loose a wave of holy wrath that poured outward from her soul like a radiant flood. Bright light seared the lesser demonkin and burned their flesh. Howling and gibbering, they scrambled away from her or burned to ash in her wake. The rest withdrew into the shadows.

Johanna paused to catch her breath. She planted one end of her tall kite shield into the earth and rested her weight on it. Ashy dust crunched beneath her boots. The land here was blackened and crumbling, drained of all vitality by the oceans of demonic ichor that had been spilled upon it. The thought saddened the crusader; even if the war ended, even if the demonic legions left Sanctuary in peace, it was likely that nothing would ever grow here again. It would stand as a monument to the devastation of the Sin War. She brushed aside her halfhawk of white-blonde hair and spat through cut lips. It would never be pretty again, but it would serve Mankind-- much like herself.

Johanna hefted her shield and trudged onward. What she sought was far, far beneath the earth. Azmodan, Lord of Sin, had brought the Sin Hearts up from Hell to empower his forces. Waves of human attackers had been unable to penetrate the Hearts’ guards, so the Nephalem had been sent in instead. Johanna had lost track of her companions in the melee, and hoped that they were alright without her. The barbarian Sonya was tough but headstrong, and Li Ming’s arrogance made her overconfident. They relied on their Crusader to anchor their battle line. She felt guilty for abandoning them. But her own mission was more important.

Before her a cave mouth yawned in the earth. Hellish vapors wafted out from between its jagged stalactites like breath from a gaping demonic mouth. Below, a vile demonic chattering echoed faintly. Johanna smiled and gripped her flail tighter. She could feel the holy wrath bubbling up inside her. A serene golden glow poured out of her eyes and mouth as she readied herself to punish the forces of darkness. She whirled her flail up to speed and stepped into the abyss.

***

Sweat ran down Johanna’s brow and stung her eyes. The Arreat Crater spiraled endlessly downward, each layer crawling with Azmodan’s minions. Cydaea, the Maiden of Lust, had been put in charge of defending the Sin Hearts, and the demons here reflected her dark dominion. They were all lolling tongues and bulging eyes, panting avidly as they climbed over each other to claw desperately at their foe. The stink of their breath was bittersweet with corruption. Johanna had to stop to catch her wind and wave off the intoxicating effect. Far below her, magma burbled and seethed, casting a hellish glow over the cavern. The ground was some obscene fusion of dead stone and organic material: where she trod, her boots tore the membranous tissue and squelched through its tangled viscera.

Up ahead, Johanna saw, the path curved inward. Her descent, which had been gentle and meandering, became steeper and more rugged. She advanced warily. Above her, a shrill keening echoed across the vaulted ceiling. She dropped into a fighting stance, and well-honed combat instinct made her duck. Just in time, too-- a  _ whoosh _ and a reeking wind were her only warning as a trio of succubi tore through the air where Johanna’s head had been a moment before. Thwarted, the demonesses jeered at her before alighting on the path.

They looked more human than most demonkind, though their faces were twisted in expressions of hate that accentuated their alien physiognomy. Their eyes were almond-shaped and bright red, their noses narrow and pinched, their mouths lusty and full-lipped. They hissed at her and revealed snakelike fangs and forked tongues. They were naked except for leather harnesses studded with nails and bits of glass that ground into their perfect alabaster skin. When they moved, these cilices tore into them and sent rivulets of bright purple blood cascading down their flanks. Their breasts were proud and prominent, mounds of pale flesh studded with barbels and pierced with spikes and metal thorns. They gyrated lewdly before Johanna, showing off the sensual curve of their bodies and the gold chains hooked into their flesh. The smell that came off them was appalling; musky sex-sweat, but rank and rotten, as though a pair of lovers had died at their moment of climax and moldered in each other’s arms. The succubi were supposed to tempt humans to carnal sin, but only the mad could desire these misbegotten fiends. Despite herself, Johanna felt a stirring in her loins, but forced it down.  _ These wretches are a distraction. I hunt bigger game _ .

The lead succubus pouted and simpered. “Crusaderrrrr… we know your hearrrrrrt. Abandon yourrrr quest. Come, tarrrrrrry with us a while…” she turned and presented her ample bottom, spreading her cheeks with her hands to reveal a hole that pulsed and winked. One of her sisters beckoned Johanna with one finger, then as she watched, plunged that finger inside her companion to the second knuckle. All three laughed at the queasy expression on the Crusader’s face. “You preferrrrr it in your pussy? Glorianth will make you  _ scrrrrrream! _ ” The third succubus opened her mouth to reveal a tongue that extended grotesquely, unfurling past her navel and wiggling back and forth. She snapped it back up into her mouth and grinned, twin streams of drool pouring out of the corners of her mouth.

Johanna’s response was a spinning hammer of golden light. Two of the succubi leapt out of the way, but the third-- Glorianth of the long tongue-- screamed as the manifestation of Zakarum’s wrath tore into her. She stumbled away, her skull partially caved in, dripping bone fragments and bits of brain onto the cavern floor. To Johanna’s disgust the living material of the cavern formed tiny mouths which supped eagerly at the bits of organic debris. The stricken succubus collapsed in a heap. Her sisters’ shrill war cries stung the Crusader’s ears, but she held her ground as they dove for her. One sprouted inch-thick talons from her fingers and raked at Johanna’s face. Her nails scraped along the Crusader’s shield with a terrible screech. Johanna cut it short by swinging her mace upward in a wide arc that caught the succubus in the midsection, shattering her ribs and pulping her organs. She squawked-- a strangely avian noise-- and fell out of sight, down towards the magma below.

The last succubus flapped her wings to ascend out of range. Hate painted her features as she gathered demonic power for the Blood Star. Johanna waited patiently as the evil crimson glow brightened, then tilted her shield  _ just so _ . The polished surface caught the light from the succubus’s attack and reflected it into her eyes, just as the foul creature was preparing to unleash her power. She screeched and lost control of the energy she had been gathering. Red lightning crackled along her limbs and she twitched spasmodically, tumbling out of the air and landing heavily on the path. Johanna looked down, hatred twisting her features, as the pathetic creature writhed and groaned on the ground. She took one heavy step forward and grimaced in satisfaction at the  _ crack _ . The succubus lay still.

Hours later, Johanna could hear the pulsing of the Sin Heart. It seemed to come from all around, as though she had descended into a gigantic drum. She knew that she was close, and her own heart beat faster. At last… after so long… she forced the thought back down. She was not there yet, and there was plenty a slip twixt cup and lip, as her old mentor had loved to say. Focus on the task at hand. One foot in front of the other.

Finally, the path opened out into a crude amphitheater. The Sin Heart itself beat before her. Johanna had expected it to be some kind of vile machine, or maybe a special type of demon, but it actually was a gigantic, scaly heart. It was encased in a field of demonic energy and wrapped in layers of webbing. At the sight, Johanna’s heart skipped a beat. Finally, her quarry was near. She had dared to hope that Cydaea herself might be guarding the Heart.

Of course, it couldn’t be that simple. As she took her first step onto the plateau, bright lights above her snapped on, illuminating rows and rows of Fallen and imps filling the seats of the theater. They cheered and booed alternately and randomly but made no move to attack. From above, a massive, bulbous shape descended on a single thread. Cydaea was an abomination, with the head and torso of a pale and lovely woman atop the body of a spider. Baroque bronze armor covered her lower half, and she wore an elaborate helmet complete with a black veil. She clapped as her rear limbs played out the line that held her aloft, halting her descent about twenty feet off the ground.

“Well done, Nephalem. I see my daughters could not distract you. You’ve come for the Heart, yes? But I’m afraid it’s mine. Why not take off your armor and rest a while? You must be tired.”

Johanna bared her teeth in a snarl. “Never, foul hellspawn! Come down and face me! I’ll crush you and anyone else who stands in my way, and then I’ll smash that rotten heart to pieces!”

Cydaea smiled. “So destructive! Well, I hate to disappoint you. Minions!” she screamed, pointing an accusing finger at Johanna, “Slay her!”

They poured out from all sides, a living tide of evil. Johanna was swamped at once. There were too many to even think about tactics. She swore as they climbed on her back, grasping at her armor and trying to loosen the plates. Her flail smashed through five or six at once. It shattered spines, burst skulls and tore arms from their sockets. She smashed her shield into one imp, breaking its neck, then slammed it downward like a guillotine to decapitate another one that was crawling beneath her. A wave of holy power poured off her, pulling in the closest enemies like a riptide and breaking their tiny bodies.

Johanna lost track of time in the melee. She took a shallow cut, and then another, but her righteous wrath sealed these minor wounds in seconds. She could feel the shaman and witch doctors in the pack trying their unclean hexes, but her armor was proof against their weak magics. She blinded her foes with dazzling light and smashed them aside while they stood confused. There was one terrible moment where the press of foes seemed to tower above her like a crashing wave, and then she could feel the strength recede from them. She cut down the last few and sent another hammer to crush a fleeing Fallen… and just like that, she was alone in the arena, breathing heavily and covered in gore. Above her, Cydaea began to clap again. “Well done, Nephalem! It seems I underestimated you. I suppose I will have to handle you myself.”

_ A bit theatrical _ , Johanna thought, _ but it’s just like her _ . She stood her ground as Cydaea completed her descent and crossed the ground towards her, her eight pointed limbs picking their way delicately through the field of slaughter. She stood before Johanna and looked down, with her arms folded. “Well?” barked the Crusader, her flail still held at the ready.

“Johanna, my love. My heart is whole again. You’ve returned to me!” Cydaea gushed, lifting her veil. Beneath, her eyes were wide and bright. Sincerity was written across her face-- an unfamiliar expression to most demons, but all the more unmistakeable for it. “I feared the worst. Azmodan said the Nephalem had fallen. He said he had given her to his guard dogs.”

“That was Valla, poor thing. She… stayed behind, to hold off…” Johanna stopped. Talking about this felt wrong. 

“This wretched War!” moaned Cydaea, cupping her face in her hands. “I felt you slay my daughters, dearest. I don’t blame you. I just wish… it could all be over, someday. Someday soon. Every time you leave me is a torture.”

Johanna unbuckled the straps holding her gauntlets and vambraces on. She let the plates drop to the ground and wrung the tension out of her arms. Reaching up, she beckoned Cydaea closer, and the demon woman leaned down. Her own arms gently removed Johanna’s helmet and caressed the Crusader’s head, stroking one ear and running her fingers gently through her hair. Their lips locked and Johanna’s hungry tongue explored Cydaea’s mouth. The Maiden of Lust tasted of cinnamon and cardamom, of mother’s milk and the sweat of a father’s embrace, of pine needles and incense and birch bark crackling on the fire… it was a heady rush, and Johanna threw herself into the kiss. She melted into her partner. Cydaea’s skin was so soft, and her touch so gentle! After a long moment, Johanna reluctantly withdrew, breaking the kiss without a sound. She reached back and began to undo the straps binding her cuirass to her body.

“Cydaea, darling, I’ve missed you too. Can you help me with these?” She paused. “We’re secure here, right? We won’t be caught?

Cydaea waved a hand dismissively and reached around, her dexterous fingers unlacing the bindings of Johanna’s armor. “No, I sent my more intelligent guards away. The stupid ones… well, you just rid me of most of them. I have issued orders that the Heart is not to be disturbed. These fools fear me more than you. Though from what I can see here, they may be wrong in that.” 

Johanna snorted. “This may have to be the last time for a while, Cydaea. I believe the others are suspicious of me. So many close calls… if they send someone else after you I… I don’t know what I’ll do.” An expression of fear crossed her stone countenance, finding itself in unfamiliar territory. “We should leave. We’ve talked about it before. Just… go somewhere, somewhere the War can’t touch us.”

Cydaea frowned. “That’s been tried, my love. That’s how the whole Sin War got started. Are we a new Inarius and Lilith?”   
  
Johanna snorted. “If so, you’re Lilith.”

“I suppose that makes you Inarius, hm? Someone thinks highly of herself!” Cydaea giggled. 

Johanna felt herself smile. “Alright, we can’t leave. But please stay safe. If something happened to you, Cydaea, I don’t- I think I’d-” she shuddered. “I don’t know what I’d do. I’ve betrayed my order, betrayed my species. I’d give everything up for you, Cydaea. In a heartbeat.” She pointed at the Sin Heart. “That heart, actually.”

Cydaea’s lips curled into a smirk. “Was that a real, honest-to-evil joke? A joke, from the mighty crusader?”

Johanna blushed and grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, well, you don’t get another one for a while.” She finished with the straps and lifted her cuirass off, laying it gently on the ground. She shrugged out of her pauldrons and unbuckled her gorget. From the waist up, she wore a tabard and a mail shirt which she even now lifted over her head. “Help me with this, Cydaea. I’ve worked up a real appetite on those little sluts of yours, and now I want to take it out on you.”

Cydaea nodded with a wicked smile. “Actually, my love, I had a different idea. I was wondering… well, hoping really, that is…” she trailed off. “You’re going to be a mommy, dear, and that’s all there is to it.”   
  
Johanna froze in place. For a moment, she wasn’t sure what she had heard. Then her brain caught up and she began to stammer. “What? How? I mean, I’m a woman, and you’re, well, you’re female, right, and… what are you?”   
  
Cydaea laughed. “My eggs. I don’t know if you knew I had them? Well, we don’t reproduce the same way you do. If I choose to mate with another demon, it doesn’t really matter how the… mechanics… work out, I can bear their children. I didn’t think it worked that way with Nephalem, but I guess it does. They’re fertile. The trouble is, I can’t hatch them. I need someone to carry them for me.”

Realization dawned. Johanna’s face took on a horrified expression. “No, no, no. Not a chance. I can’t! I mean, in my-- are you serious? No way! I’m a warrior, Cydaea! How does that even work?”   
  
Cydaea’s face became a pleading pout. “Please, my love. I will be as gentle as a lamb. You’ll only have to wait here a week, and you won’t be harmed. You can say you were captured or something, I don’t know, whatever they’ll believe. Please! Without you, they’ll die. These are our children. Our  _ babies _ , Nephalem, some of the first of their kind. They deserve a chance.”

Johanna looked into Cydaea’s eyes and saw nothing there but hope. She thought for a moment, and sighed heavily. “I suppose I walked into this. I said I’d give it all up, and if there’s any chance for us, any chance at all… a family… I never really imagined, but I suppose life is full of surprises.” She stepped back. “I’ll need your help getting the rest of my armor off.”

A few minutes later, Johanna lay on her back on a silk sheet. She had flatly refused to lie on the gore-slick ground, and Cydaea had spun her a little square of cloth to rest on. Every inch of the Crusader’s body was corded muscle, bearing the scars of a thousand fights. Even her heavy breasts bore faint slash marks-- the talons of an imp that had surprised her in her bath. Her stomach was flat and tight, and a thin thatch of white hair adorned her pubic mound. She spread her legs with her knees tented up and her feet flat on the ground. Her face was tight with anticipation, her eyes tracking Cydaea’s movements as the Maiden of Lust loomed over her. Her eight limbs surrounded Johanna’s prone form as she bent forward and gathered the Crusader in her arms. She had removed her own armor, and her enormous, pale breasts hung in Johanna’s face. The Crusader, as always, marveled at the perfection of her lover’s body. Cydaea’s skin was smooth and hairless, her nipples large and dark, beading with drops of moisture already. Johanna knew from experience that it would be sweet and intoxicating, like nectar on her tongue. She marveled at the perfect curves of Cydaea’s body, how the spider abdomen fused into the human torso with the exact same curves as a Kehjistani veil dancer. Her arms were soft white pillars, the strength in them undeniable, yet they held Johanna with the gentleness a mother might show a newborn babe. Above her, Cydaea murmured a chant, and Johanna could feel the unmistakable sensation of an enchantment settling into her.

“That’s just to make this easier on your body, my love. Are you ready?” Cydaea cradled Johanna’s head and shoulders in her arms and pressed her cheek to the Crusader’s. “Here I come!”

Johanna could feel something thick and warm sliding along her thigh. The eggs would come from Cydaea’s ovipositor, she had explained. The thing looked mammoth, far too large for Johanna’s tight snatch, but the enchantment would supposedly help. Between training and her mission Johanna had never had time for lovers, and for their first few dalliances, a pair of Cydaea’s slender fingers had been enough to make her feel full. By now she had more experience, but this thing was an order of magnitude larger than any of the Maiden of Lust’s favorite “toys.” Johanna’s nails bit into Cydaea’s shoulder as she gripped her lover tightly. “Please be careful,” she whispered, and screwed up her eyes. “I’m ready.”

Something rubbery and firm pressed against Johanna’s pussy. Cydaea reached one arm between her partner’s thighs and gently parted her nether lips with two fingers. With her other arm she cradled Johanna’s head and murmured soothing words in her ear. The ovipositor slid into the Crusader’s snatch with a wet  _ shlurp _ , and immediately she could feel it stretching her out. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Oh, Cydaea, I feel it! It’s in! Oh, it’s so big…” 

Inch by inch, the probing tube slid deeper into her. It was ribbed, and it throbbed with Cydaea’s pulse, rubbing against Johanna’s inner walls. Each new section sliding in sent shivers of ecstasy up her spine, and she closed her eyes as a low moan built in her throat. Her cunt was soaking wet, though how much of that was her own juices and how much the ovipositor’s oozing lubricant she couldn’t tell. Inch after inch, it pushed its way into her, impaling her until she could feel it nestled against her cervix. Cydaea whispered again, “Are you ready?” and Johanna had to swallow heavily before responding. 

“Do it.” 

The demon cooed lovingly in her ear as the ovipositor rippled with muscle. Augmented by the enchantment, Johanna’s body did not break or tear, but she could feel her organs shoved to the side as the invading tube pushed its way into her womb. Looking down, she could see her flesh bulging obscenely below her stomach as the fist-sized tip of the ovipositor settled into her innermost parts. She let out a guttural growl; the sensations were overwhelming, not the regular pleasure that Cydaea could give her but a constant throbbing she had never experienced before.

“Here they come, my love!” Cydaea whispered. Johanna could feel the ovipositor pulsing with peristalsis. She clutched Cydaea tighter as something rubbery and round pressed against her stretched-open pussy. The egg slid inside her with barely any resistance at all and passed up the tube towards her womb. As it slid through her tunnel it pressed against the walls, setting off waves of pleasure that bounced off the walls of Johanna’s skull and reverberated through her brain. There was a brief pause as the egg reached her innermost sanctum, then it popped out of the tip and adhered to the wall.

As the second egg began its journey, Johanna could hold on no longer. Fireworks went off in her brain as she experienced one of the most intense orgasms of her life. Cydaea could always make her come; she was, after all, the Maiden of Lust. This was different. This was a full-body sensation that went on for more than a minute, it seemed, a crescendo that drove away all rational thought followed by a series of aftershocks that left Johanna weak and spasming. Her toes clenched and unclenched, her arms hung limps from Cydaea’s neck, and her eyes rolled back into her head. She could not even scream, but let out a gurgling moan that sounded more animal than human.

  
As each egg followed the last into her womb, she felt herself letting go. All of the worry and trepidation she had had melted away. Her body rocked, her thighs soaking in her juices, her tongue lolling out. Drool pooled beneath her head and she lacked the presence of mind to move away from it. Sweat beaded her forehead and soaked her hair as she climaxed again and again and again. Looking down, she could see her stomach bloating to the size of one of Li Ming’s arcane orbs. What was once flat and muscular was now as round and roly-poly as a woman about to bear triplets. Strangely, Johanna didn’t mind. She had always fretted privately that her Crusade had made her sexless; now, she looked like a fertility idol, an archetype of femininity.  _ I never had an apprentice. A child… now, I never imagined that… _

After what seemed like ages, the last egg joined its fellows in Johanna’s obscenely swollen womb. She could no longer see her feet. Her overstuffed stomach was stretched far beyond what seemed possible. A faint crimson glow from within marked the mixed heritage of her children. She cradled it with both hands, marveling at the warmth, at the feeling of life inside her. She knew intellectually that these were demonspawn injected into her by an unnatural creature, but she knew emotionally that they were her children. Her babies. She would protect them and teach them to be strong. She could be their mother and their father, and Cydaea beside her. Damn the Sin War! Damn the angels, and the demons, and the Nephalem that thought to arbitrate! They had no idea of the love she and Cydaea shared, no idea of the roses that could bloom even on the most blood-soaked battlefield. 

Cydaea withdrew her ovipositor. It caught at the entrance to Johanna’s pussy for a moment before popping free with a wet sound and a torrent of gushing fluid that painted her thighs with stickiness. The spider-woman was breathing hard as well; Johanna supposed this probably felt nearly as good for the demon as it had for her. She held out a hand weakly, and Cydaea took it. Johanna pulled her lover’s hand in close and kissed her knuckles, then leaned heavily against one of Cydaea’s legs. She felt her breasts pushed up and apart by the massive stomach on which they rested. They looked larger as well, and leaked thin trickles of pale fluid.  _ Mother’s milk _ , she thought, and smiled. Her nipples tingled in the cool air; their sensitivity seemed to have been magnified by her experience. She rubbed a finger across one and shivered at the pleasurable sensation. Licking her finger, she tasted something sweet and creamy, like milk crossed with the fluid produced by the demoness.

“Cy, dear, that was… incredible…” she murmured, her voice weak and broken. “I don’t think I can… stand… but you should feel your children…” She pressed Cydaea’s hand against her stomach. The Maiden of Lust thought for a moment, then her face lit up with genuine joy. 

“Jo, I can feel them! I can feel our children!” She spun for a moment, then reached out, holding out a parcel of silk. “I knitted you something to wear. I don’t think your armor will fit you now. I’ll gather it for later.” Without standing up, Johanna draped the silk over her shoulders. It was a robe, a loose-fitting garment that draped over her enormous belly. “It should be about a week,” Cydaea continued. “You can stay with me. I have private quarters here… somewhere no demon will go. Come, I’ll carry you.” She reached down. Despite her thin, aristocratic arms, despite Johanna’s enormously pregnant form, she carried the Crusader as though she weighed nothing. 

Johanna wrapped her arms weakly around Cydaea’s neck as she was carried away. She was so tired… the experience had taken a lot out of her. She let herself be lulled to sleep by the spider-woman’s rhythmic gait. As she drifted off, she murmured in a voice so quiet none but a demon would have been able to hear it:   
“I love you, Cy.”


End file.
